Warner incensed after image linked him to IPL corruption

An early morning text message from a friend in Australia is believed to have sparked the Twitter tirade from David Warner that has resulted in the opener being reported by Cricket Australia for an alleged breach of the body's code of behaviour.

Warner was enraged after a friend sent a picture of the Courier-Mail story by senior News Ltd journalist Robert Craddock into corruption in the Indian Premier League, which featured the batsman's image alongside spot-fixing suspect Sreesanth.

Warner was more unhappy with his image being used for such a story rather than the content of the piece, which highlighted the seedier aspects of the Twenty20 tournament.

The 26-year-old was not out partying or consuming alcohol during the rant to his more than 190,000 followers in the early hours of Saturday morning in India.

Nor was the explosive opener, who earns $755,000 a year with IPL franchise Delhi Daredevils, seeking to defend the lucrative competition, which was rocked by a spot-fixing scandal last week.

Warner's version of events appears to be supported by a tweet where he said he was ''sick of being woken up by crap tweets and articles like @crashcraddock1 crap''.

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Although it will not absolve him of blame, the revelation helps put into context his spat with veteran cricket writer Malcolm Conn.

It also puts to bed suggestions Warner's Twitter account may have been hacked.

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Warner will have to front a CA commissioner later this week to answer a charge of ''unbecoming behaviour''.

The rule states that players must not engage in behaviour which could ''bring them or the game of cricket into disrepute or be harmful to the interests of cricket''.

Warner is expected to receive either a reprimand or a fine but it is unlikely his place in Australia's touring party for the Ashes will be in doubt.

He had impressed CA with his form and attitude in recent weeks before his blue this weekend.

The opener is due to arrive back in Sydney early this week before flying out to England on the weekend or Monday with the rest of Australia's Champions Trophy squad for next month's ODI tournament.

Warner completed his duties with the Daredevils on Sunday night. Although he has personally been in good form, hitting 408 runs at 34 with four half-centuries leading into the final game, it has not been a prosperous campaign for his franchise, who faced Pune in a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

The Twitter incident comes just months after four Australian players, including then vice-captain Shane Watson, were suspended for not completing a homework task set by coach Mickey Arthur during the unhappy - and highly unsuccessful - Test tour of India.

But it has done little to blunt Warner's popularity on Twitter. The opener has picked up a whopping nearly 7000 new followers on the social media website in just the past two days.